Carton dispensing and forming apparatus



16 Sheets-Sheet l F. D. MARASSO ETAL n. n. T I

CARTON DISPENSING AND FORMING APPARATUS Jan. 18, 1966 Original Filed Feb.

QVN OWN NWN INVENTORS FRED D. MARASSO ROBERT E. RADEMACHER ATTORNEY 1956 F. D. MARASSO ETAL 3,229,597

CARTON DISPENSING AND FORMING APPARATUS l6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Feb. 2, 1959 ATTORNEY INVENTORS FRED D. MARASSO ROBERT E. RADEMACHER BY Ana rub, whh

Jan. 18, 1966 F, D. MARASSO ETAL 3,229,597

CARTON DISPENSING AND FORMING APPARATUS Original Filed Feb. 2, 1959 1.6 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG. 3 466 350 446 4 44 390 P E 4 5 472 A f/ L 355 602,420

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INVENTORS 455 FRED 0. MARASSO ROBERT E. RADEMACHER ATTORNEY Jan. 18, 1966 F. D. MARAsso ETAL 3,229,597

CARTON DISPENSING AND FORMING APPARATUS Original Filed Feb. 2, 1959 16 Sheets-Sheet 4 FIG 5 J44 1 6 5a 24a 1 0 11 we 1 a 10,?

INVENTOHS E FRED 0. MARASSCI Q0 ROBERT E. RADEMACHER ATTORNEY Jan. 18, 1966 F. D. MARASSO ETAL 3,229,597

CARTON DISPENSING AND FORMING APPARATUS l6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Original Filed Feb. 2, 1959 INVENTORS FRED o. MARASSO ROBERT E. RADEMACHER %&

ATTORNEY NQK mw \w @E @Q 0 o w SQ why ab, w\\ i $3 NW 0 A av &

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@Hww w s e o s e n o @.Q m, e e J T 0 W 1 L 1966 F. D. MARASSO ETAL 3,229,597

CARTON DISPENSING AND FORMING APPARATUS l6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Original Filed Feb. 2, 1959 INVENTORS FRED D. MARASSO ROBERT E. RADEMACHEER ATTORNEY Jan. 18, 1966 F. D. MARASSO ETAL 3,229,597

CARTON DISPENSING AND FORMING APPARATUS 16 Sheets-Sheet 7 Original Filed Feb. 2, 1959 IN VEN TORS FRED D. MARASSO ROBERT E. RADEMACHER FIG. 11 2/4 ATTORNEY F. D. MARASSO ETAL 3,229,597

Jan. 18, 1966 CARTON DISPENSING AND FORMING APPARATUS 16 Sheets-Sheet 8 Original Filed Feb. 2, 1959 g 2a? a m g 374 26,8 1;" 395 F/Gl4 274 294 haw/5 P 4876 Z )8 "2&6

INVENTORS FRED D. MARASSO gQBERT E, RADEM ACH ER W 5% ATTORNEY Jan. 18, 1966 F. D. MARASSO ETAL 3,229,597

CARTON DISPENSING AND FORMING APPARATUS Original Filed Feb. 2, 1959 16 Sheets-Sheet 10 7/ 4 INVENTORS FRED D. MARASSO OBERT E. RADEMACHER l 77 w W 224 ATTORNEY Jan. 18, 1966 D. MARASSO ETAL 3,229,597

CARTON DISPENSING AND FORMING APPARATUS Original Filed Feb. 2, 1959 16 Sheets-Sheet 12 IN VEN TORS FRED D. MARASSO B fiOBERT E. RADEMACHER ATTORNEY Jan. 18, 1966 F. D MARASSO ETAL 3,229,597

CARTON DISPENSING ANDFORMING APPARATUS Original Filed Feb. 2, 1959 16 Sheets-Sheet 13 INVENTORS FRED B. MARASSO IB OBERT E. RADEMACHER ATTORNEY Jan. 18, 1966 D. MARASSO ETAL 3,229,597

CARTON DISPENSING AND FORMING APPARATUS Original Filed Feb. 2, 1959 16 Sheets-Sheet 1i IN VEN TORS FRED D. MARASSQ i QOBERT E. RADEMACHER WXA ATTORNEY Jan. 13, 1966 F. D. MARASSO ETAL 3,229,597

CARTON DISPENSING AND FORMING APPARATUS Original Filed Feb. 2, 1959 16 Sheets-Sheet 15 I N VEN TORS FRED D. MARASS'O BOBERT E. RADEMACHER ATTORNEY Jan. 18, 1966 F- D. MARASSO ETAL 3,229,597

RTON DISPENSING AND FORMING APPARATUS Original Filed Feb. 2, 1959 16 Sheets-Sheet 16 INVENTORS FRED D. MARASSO RCBYE T E. RADEMACHER ATTORN EY United States Patent 3,229,597 CARTON DISPENSING AND FORMING APPARATUS Fred 1). Marasso and Robert E. Rademacher, Richmond,

Va., assignors to American Machine & Foundry Company, a corporation of New Jersey Original application Feb. 2, 1959, Ser. No. 790,420, now Patent No. 3,106,048, dated Oct. 8, 1963. Divided and this application Nov. 15, 1962, Ser. No. 237,939 2 (Ilaims. (Cl. 93-53) This application is a division of our copending application, Serial No. 790,420, filed February 2, 1959, now Patent No. 3,106,048, issued Oct. 8, 1963, and claim is made for all of the equitable and legal rights derivable therefrom.

This invention relates to handling and packaging of fragile articles and more particularly baked articles such as buns, rolls and the like.

Normally, bake ans have a plurality of pockets each generally containing one article. Generally the pockets are laterally spaced in rows in the baking container. Consequently, such pans may be conveyed along a conveyor thereby providing laterally spaced rows of endless length. Such baked articles must be removed from the pan and packaged for marketing. With certain specialty types of bun, such as hamburger buns and hot dog rolls, it is additionally necessary to slice them.

Heretofore, it has been necessary to perform the operation of depanning and cartoning manually. A further problem has been that where suitable slicing machines have been devised for halving the buns, nonetheless it was necessary to hand deposit the buns on a suitable conveyor for proper alignment into the slicing machines.

It is therefore an object of the invention to depan, align, slice and package buns on a single machine. It is an object of this invention to perform these multiple operations continuously and automatically on a unitary device.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a packaging device for use with a depanning member and a conveyor for delivering articles to a discharge station having a plurality of article feed positions, and including a first pusher member for moving a portion of the baked articles delivered to the discharge station into a carton at a first article feed position and second pusher member for moving the remainder of the baked articles on the conveyor into a carton at a second feed position, the pusher member at the second feed position being operative to dispense the articles in overlying relationship with articles moved into a carton at the first discharge station and positive support means over which articles at the second discharge station are moved by the second pusher member,

Another object of the present invention is to provide means for indexing a carton delivered to the discharge station from the first article feed position to a second article feed position.

Another object of this invention is to provide an article dispensing device provided with means for removing a folded carton blank from a source of supply and cam-actuated finger members for assembling the removed blank into a carton having one side open for receiving articles.

Another object of the invention is to provide a carton dispensing device provided with a suction member for extracting a folded blank from a source of supply and cam-actuated finger members for assembling the removed blank into a carton having a major side in open position for receiving articles.

It is an object of the invention to devise a novel 3,229,597 Patented Jan. 18, 1966 carton and mechanism for readily delivering it from a magazine.

It is a further object of the invention to devise a novel carton in which articles may be fed sidewardly into the carton.

It is a further object to devise a novel carton suitable for slidingly receiving oriented baked articles.

The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention, itself, however, both as to its organization and method of operation may be understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 when joined on line A-A and B-B illustrates a side elevation of the depanning, slicing, dispensing and packaging machine for baked goods;

FIG. 4 is a partial rear view of the dispensing and packaging portion of the machine;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the depanning and aligning mechanism of the machine;

FIG. 6 is a partial sectional side elevation of the machine illustrating the depanning and aligning mechanism;

FIG. 7 is a side elevation illustrating a gripper unit adapted for depanning and transferring single ham burger buns;

FIG. 8 is an end elevation of the same;

FIG. 9 is a partial sectional end elevation of the gripper actuating mechanism on line 99 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a plan View of a gripper and transfer mechanism adapted for use with single frankfurter rolls and frankfurter roll clusters;

FIG. 11 is a side elevation of the same;

FIG. 12 is an end elevation of the frankfurter roll mechanism;

FIG. 13 is a plan view of a gripper and transfer mechanism adapted for use with hamburger bun clusters;

FIG. 14 is an end elevation of the same;

FIG. 15 is a bottom view of the hamburger bun cluster mechanism illustrating the gripper fingers during gripping action;

FIG. 16 is a side elevation of the same;

FIG. 17 is a sectional plan view of the gripping fingers during gripping action taken on line 17-17 of FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a plan view of the dispensing and packaging portion of the machine;

FIGS. 19 and 20 are sectional side elevations illustrating the dispensing mechanism during insertion of the baked goods into a carton;

FIG. 21 is a side elevation of a control unit for air valve operation;

FIG. 22 is a sectional end elevation of the same taken on line 2222 of FIG. 21;

FIG. 23 is an end elevation of the carton dispensing and opening mechanism in conjunction with a forwardmg conveyor;

FIG. 24 is a side elevation of the same;

FIGS. 25, 26, 27 and 28 are perspective views illustrating the successive steps employed in the dispensing and opening of the carton to be forwarded to the packaging machine;

FIG. 29 is a partial end elevation, partly in section, illustrating the carton indexing device;

FIG. 30 is a carton blank, shown in perspective;

FIG. 31 is a carton assembled, shown in perspective.

With reference to the drawings, the bun depanner and packer consists of a pan feeding conveyor F, a bun depanning and lifting device D, a bun aligning and conveying mechanism C, a bun slicing device S, a bun dispensing mechanism E and a bun packaging device P.

The entire machine, with the exception of the bun slicing device S and the carton dispensing mechanism of the packaging device P, are driven by a motor (FIG. 2), the shaft 32 of which carries a variable speed pulley 34 of the well known spring-loaded Reeves type. Pulley 34, through a V-belt 36, drives a pulley 38 mounted on the input shaft 40 0f a suitable gear reduction unit 42. Mounted on the output shaft 44 of unit 42 is a sprocket 46 which, in turn, drives sprockets 50 and 52 through. a suitable chain 48 (FIG. 2). Sprocket 52 is mounted on a cam shaft 54 rotatably supported by suitable bearings held by a member 56 of the main frame 58. Sprocket 50 is mounted on and drives the main drive shaft 60 which is also supported in suitable bearings held by a frame member 62. Pulley 64 is mounted on shaft 60 and, by means of a belt 66, drives a pulley 68 mounted on a shaft 70 which is the drive shaft for the pan feeding conveyor F. Pan feeding conveyor F consists of a suitable frame 72 which is secured by means of adjustable brackets 74 (FIG. 1) tothe main frame 58 of the machine. The drive shaft 70 is supported by suitable bearings located in the forward end of frame 72. A pulley 76 is secured to shaft 70 and drives a pair of spaced conveyor belts 78 which run over an idler pulley 80 mounted on a horizontal shaft 82 supported by suitable bearings inframe 72. The pan feed conveyor F is also provided With suitable adjustable pan guide bars 84 which are suspended above the conveyor belts 78 by lugs 86. Each lug 86 is integral with and projects from a threaded sleeve or hub 88. Each guide bar 84 is provided with a pair of spaced lugs 86 and sleeves 88. The sleeves 88 of one guide bar 84 engage with the left hand threaded end portions of a pair of spaced horizontal transverse shafts 90 while the sleeves 88 of the other guide bar 84 engage with the right hand threaded portions on the opposite ends of said transverse shafts 90. Both shafts 90 are supported by suitable bearing brackets secured to the top edges of conveyor frame 72. To one end of each of the shafts 90 is secured a sprocket 92 (FIG. 1) which is connected by a chain 94. Handwheel 96 is fastened to the forward end of one of the shafts 90 to turn shafts 90 in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction, as desired. It will be understood that, due to the threaded end portions of shafts 90, a turning of 'handWheel 96 effects a transverse lateral movement of the guide bars 84 either towards or away from each other, providing adjustable guide means for pans of various widths.

Since it is essential to stop the pans intermittently during the depanning operation, the pan infeed conveyor F is provided with a pair of spaced indexing fingers 98, each of which is loosely mounted on a transverse shaft 100. Each shaft 100 is rotatably supported at each end by a suitable bearing lug projecting from a threaded sleeve 102. Each of the two threaded sleeves 102 supporting each transverse shaft 100 engages a threaded longitudinally arranged shaft 104 (FIGS. 5 and 6). Each threaded shaft or spindle 104 is rotatably supported at each end by suitable bearings formed by either gear housings or individual bearing brackets secured to the inner sides of the conveyor frame 72. To one end of each spindle 104 is secured a bevel gear 106 which meshes with a corresponding bevel gear 108. Each pair of bevel gears 108 is mounted on a transverse shaft 110 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. Each transverse shaft 110 is rotatably supported at both ends by suitable bearings formed by gear housings 112 secured to the inner face of frame 72. To one end of each transverse shaft 110 is also secured a handwheel 114 (FIGS. 1 and 5). The turning of handwheels 114, through the associated bevel gears 106 and 108 and spindles 104, effect longitudinal back or forward travel of sleeves 102. Since each shaft 100, carried by a pair of sleeves 102, supports a pan indexing finger 98 it will be understood that the indexing fingers 98 may be moved to any desired position in accordance with the size and dimensions of the pans used.

As mentioned heretofore, each indexing finger 98 is loosely mounted on one of the transverse shafts 100. A torsion spring 116 holds finger 98 in engagement with a suiltable lug projecting from an actuating arm 118 mounted on the transverse shaft 100. To each transverse shaft 100 is secured a trip lever 120, the free end of which, by means of a tension spring 122, engages with the free end of a stud 124 (FIG. 6). Stud 124 protrudes from a piston within an air cylinder 126 held by a bracket 128 mounted on a suitable lug projecting from the lower side of one of the threaded sleeves 102. The injection of air into the cylinder 126 actuates the piston there-within moving the protruding stud 124 forward to press the trip lever on shaft 100 to swing or move in a counter-clockwise direction as indicated in dotted lines in FIG. 6. A counter-clockwise rotation of shaft 100, of course, causes the finger actuating arm 118 mounted on shaft 100 to move downward, thus lowering the index finger 98 and disengaging it from the pan resting on the continuously driven conveyor belt above. Each index finger 116, at its forward edge, is provided with a projecting curved rod 130 which serves as a guide rod to permit the use of pans of various designs. Each air cylinder 126 is of conventional design and is provided with a flexible hose 132, all of which are connected to a properly timed Bellows Electro air control valve 134 which, in turn, is connected by a suitable tube 136 to a conventional air supply, such as a compressor (not shown).

The depanning operation which removes the buns from the pans which have been indexed into proper location by the mechanism described herein-above is accomplished by a plurality of bun gripping units carried by an oscillating lifter mechanism which lifts the buns from the pans and delivers them to a continuously driven bun conveyor.

The buns are lifted from the pans either one or tWo rows at a time depending on the type of pans used. The type of lifter units employed to lift the buns or rolls depends on the type of buns or rolls delivered by the pans. Generally, there are four main types of buns and rolls used in this type of operation. They are: the round single hamburger roll, the oblong-shaped frankfurter rolls, the hamburger roll cluster and the frankfurter roll cluster. A hamburger roll cluster comprises four round hamburger rolls arranged in a substantially square pattern held together by a web of dough, while a frankfurter roll cluster includes, as a rule, four oblong frankfurter rolls arranged side-by-side and held together by a Web of dough.

Regardless of the type of lifter units used, each particular type is adjustably spaced and arranged on a transverse, preferably square, har 138 which at each end is detachably held by a U-shaped lug 140 provided with conventional spring-loaded snap-locks (not shown). Such an arrangement permits easy insertion and extraction of the bar 138, allowing rapid conversion from lifter units for one type of roll or bun to lifter units for a different type. From each supporting lug 140 extends a stud 142 which is rotatably supported by the free end of a lifter arm 144. Each arm 144 is mounted to each end of a transverse shaft 146 supported by a pair of suitable bearing brackets 148 mounted on top of the frame 58. To one end of shaft 146 is also secured an actuating arm 150 the free end of which is pivotally connected to one end of a link 152. The other end of link 152 is pivotally connected to a crank arm 154 secured to the gear reduc-- tion output shaft 44 (FIG. 2). The rotating crank arm 154, through link 152, arm 150 and shaft 146 transmitsoscillatory motion to the lifter arms 144 which carry the lifter units. In order to keep the lifter units in vertical position at all times a lever 156 is secured at one end to the stud 142 of each lifter unit supporting lug 140. The free end of each lever 156 is pivotally connected to one end of a stabilizing bar 158 while the other end of the bar 158 is pivotally attached to a stationary lug 160 mounted on frame 58. The stabilizing bars 158, coacts ing with the lifter arm 144, form parallelograms which assure a vertical position of the lifter units While being moved through an are by the oscillating lifter arms 144.

The lifter unit illustrated in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 is a single unit used primarily for gripping and lifting single round hamburger rolls. It consists of a supporting bracket 162 which is detachably and adjustably secured to transverse square bar 138 mentioned heretofore. A lifter bracket 166 is pivotally connected to the supporting bracket 162 by means of a pair of parallel links 164. The upper portion of bracket 166 is provided with a lug 168 which, by means of a collar 170, supports the upper end of air cylinder 172. From the lower end of cylinder 172 protrudes a piston rod 174 the free end of which is pivotally connected to a gripper finger actuating member 176. Member 176 is loosely supported by a stud 178 projecting from and held by the lower portion of the lifter bracket 166. A gripper finger 182 is pivotally mounted on stud 178 also and is secured to member 176 by means of screw 180. Integral with and horizontally extending from the lower portion of lifter bracket 166 is a lug 184 (FIG. 7). The free end of lug 184 pivotally supports another gripper finger 188, by means of a stud 186, positioning finger 188 in line with and exactly opposite finger 182. Link or connecting rod 190 pivotally connects gripper finger 188 to a suitably shaped extension 192 integral with the member 176 and extending upward therefrom. The top end of the cylinder 172 is suitably connected to a flexible hose 194 which, in turn, is connected to a tube 196 leading to a conventional quick exhaust valve 198, such as manufactured by Schroeder. The quick exhaust valve 198 is connected by a flexible hose 200 to a suitable air control valve 202, such as a Bellows Electro air valve. The electrical control of valve 202 Will be described hereinbelow. The air control valve 292 is connected by a tube 204 to a suitable source of air (not shown).

It will be understood that when air is supplied to the cylinder 172 of the lifter unit, the piston rod 174 moves downward and causes member 176 to swing clockwise about its pivot 178. This effects a clockwise movement of gripper finger 182 and through connecting rod 190, a corresponding counter clockwise movement to gripper finger 188, causing a closing or gripping movement of the gripper fingers 182 and 188. To control this gripping motion, as desired, and to protect the rolls from harmful indentations, member 176 is provided with a lug 296 which carries an adjustable stop screw 208. Stop screw 208 engages the bottom side of lug 184 of the lifter bracket, thereby limiting the gripping motion of the gripper fingers. Integral with and extending from the bottom portion of the supporting bracket 162 is a horizontal lug 210 which supports the lifter bracket 166 and permits the gripper fingers carried by the lifter bracket 166 to contact the top face of the pan regardless of possible uneven heights of pans delivered thereto.

The bottom of the cylinder 172 is provided with a suitable compression spring (not shown) which is compressed as the air forces the piston within the cylinder 172 downward. When the air pressure in cylinder 172 is released, the spring (not shown) urges the piston rod 174 upwardly again. Thus the spring (not shown) and the quick exhaust valve 198 effect a rapid opening of the gripper fingers 182 and 188. The number of lifter units employed is preferably equal to the number of buns or rolls in a single row of buns in a pan. In the event that the distance between the rows of buns in the pan is such that two rows of buns can be gripped and lifted at one time the single units described above are so designed that they may be placed side by side and alternately turned 180 such that the gripper fingers are suspended alternately in the front and rear of bar 138 in longitudinal alignment as illustrated in FIGS. and 6.

While the description hereinabove describes the depanning of round hamburger rolls, the present invention may be used to depan oblong frankfurter rolls by simply replacing the hamburger litter or gripper units described above with gripper units such as illustrated in FIGS. 10, 11 and 12 which are specially designed for gripping and lifting oblong frankfurter rolls. Each of these frankfurter roll gripper units consists of a supporting bracket 212 which is adjustably and detachably secured to the same type of preferably square transverse gripper unit supporting bar 138 mentioned heretofore. A lifter bracket 216 is pivotally connected to supporting bracket 212 by means of a pair of parallel links 214. To the bottom portion of bracket 216 is secured a horizontal gripper arm supporting frame 218. One end of frame 218 rotatably supports a transverse shaft 220 to each end of which is secured a grip-per arm 222. Gripper arms 222 at their bottom end are connected by and support a suitably shaped transverse gripper member 224. An actuating lever 226 is secured at one end to shaft 220. The free end of lever 226 is pivotally connected to the forked end of a piston rod 228 projecting from one end of an air cylinder 230. The opposite end of cylinder 230 is pivotally supported by the frame 218 by stud shaft 232. The other end of frame 218 remote from shaft 220 adjustably supports a pair of spaced vertical rods 234. The lower ends of rods 234 are integral with and carry a transverse gripper member 236 which is of substantially the same shape as gripper member 224. Air cylinder 230 is provided. with an air inlet nozzle 238 and connected by flexible tube 240 through quick exhaust valve 198 to a suitable air supply as described hereinabove for the hamburger roll lifter units.

The bottom portion of the supporting bracket 212 is also provided with a horizontally extending lug 242 which serves as a support for the gripper arm carrying lifter bracket 216 and enables the gripper members 224 and 236 to contact the top face of each pan delivered thereto although the height of the individual pan may vary.

It will be apparent that when air is supplied to the cylinder 230 the piston therewithin is forced to the top causing actuating lever 226 to swing in a counter-clockwise direction as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 11. The counter-clockwise movement of lever 226 is transmitted to the shaft 220 which, in turn, causes a swinging movement of the gripper member 224 toward the stationary gripper member 236 on rods 234, effecting an endwise gripping of a plurality or portion of a row of frankfurter rolls as indicated in dot and dash lines in FIG. 10. The reason for employing in this unit one stationary and one movable gripper member is to dislocate the frankfurter rolls from the pans during the gripping operation since some frankfurter rolls have a tendency to adhere to the bottom of the pan. When the open gripper units are moved into gripping position adjacent the roll in a pan, the lower edge of the movable gripper member 224 comes momentarily to rest on the top face of the pan adjacent the rear end of the rolls as indicated in dot and dash lines in FIG. 11. A member 224 moves inwardly through the action of air cylinder 230, the rolls are pushed lengthwise out of the indentation of the pan before being fully gripped between members 224 and 236.

As soon as the air supply to cylinder 230 is released, a suitable compression spring (not shown) located on top of the piston within cylinder 230 pushes piston rod 223 quickly downwardly in concert with the action of the quick exhaust valve 198, thus causing a rapid. opening action of the gripper member 224 and a fast release of the rolls.

Depending on the length of the rows of frankfurter rolls to be depanned, any desired member of these gripper units can be mounted on the square transverse supporting bar 138. To change from depanning of hamburger rolls to depanning of frankfurter rolls the operator simply disconnects the air supply hose 200 from the quick exchange valve 198 with which each bar assembly is provided, snaps the hamburger gripper assembly bar 138 out of the U shaped supporting lug on lifter arms 144,

inserts the frankfurter gripper assembly bars in lugs 140 and reconnects the air supply hose 200 to the quick exhaust valve 198. After moving the pan indexing fingers 98 by means of handwheels 114 to bring fingers 98 in proper relation with the frankfurter roll pans, the machine is ready for depanning frankfurter rolls.

The frankfurter roll gripper and lifter unit described above may be used either for rows of single frankfurter rolls or cluster of frankfurter rolls. The latter is usually formed by four rolls side by side connected by a web of baked dough.

Since it happens that during the baking of fnankfurter rolls the ends of the rolls in one row creep towards the ends in the next row, causing a slight adhesion therebetween, a removable pneumatic bun clamping device, such as indicated in FIGS. 1 and 5 is provided. The bun clamp consists of a pair of spaced hinge mounted brackets 244 attached to the infeed conveyor frame 72. Brackets 244 are connected by a horizontal cross bar 246 to the ,top face of which are secured a pair of spaced air cylinders 248. Cylinders 248 are connected at their tops by a tube 250 which, in turn, is connected to a Bellows Electro air control valve 254 by a hose 252. Valve 254 is connected by a tube 256 to a suitable source of air supply (not shown). From the bottom of each air cylinder 248 and protruding through a hole in the cross bar 246 projects a piston rod 258 from the bottom of which is suspended a suitably shaped clamp plate 260. On the bottom of and within the cylinder 248 below the piston is located a suitable compression spring (not shown) which normally holds the piston in its uppermost position in the cylinder 248. Thus piston rod 258 normally holds the clamping plate 260 above and out of contact with the rolls in the pans passing beneath. As soon as the indexing fingers 98 have contacted a pan and the gripper members on the gripper and lifter unit have descended to engage the rolls in the pan, air is supplied to the cylinders 248 causing the piston within cylinders 248 to move downwardly together. Clamping plate 260 thus engages the top face of the row of rolls therebeneath. The row engaged. by plate 260 is the row directly in back of the row of rolls to be engaged and lifted from the pan by the gripper members of the lifter unit. Should one or more rolls in these rows be adhered together, they are gently torn apart during the depanning action without danger of pulling rolls out of the row of rolls in back of the one presently being depanned.

As soon as the air supply to the cylinders 248 is in terrupted, the compression spring (not shown) within the cylinder urges the piston and the clamping plate 260 upwardly, thereby disengaging the rolls in the pan beneath plate 260. The action of the clamping plate 260, is properly timed and synchronized with the operation of the pan indexing fingers 98 and the action of the gripper and lifter units of the depanning device.

As mentioned heretofore, the present device can also be used for depanning clusters of hamburger rolls by simply substituting the single hamburger roll or frankfurter roll gripper and lifter units with units especially designed for clusters of hamburger rolls. One of the gripper and lifter units for clusters of hamburger rolls is illustrated in FIGS. 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 and consists of a supporting bracket 262 having a horizontal square slot 264 for attaching bracket 262 to one of the square transverse gripper unit supporting bars 138. A lifter bracket 268 (FIG. 14) is pivotally connected to supporting bracket 262 by means of a pair of parallel links 266. Bracket 268 rests freely on a lug 270 extending from the lower portion of bracket 262. To the lower portion of lifter bracket 268 is secured a cross-shaped member 272. The free ends of each of the four lugs of member 272 forms a fork 274. From each fork 274 a gripper arm 278 is pivotally suspended by means of a stud 276. The bottom end of each gripper arm 278 is provided with a curved V-shaped jaw 280. The center portion of each of the four arms 278 is pivotally connected to the free end of one leg of a cross shaped gripper arm actuating member 284 by means of a suitable connecting rod 282. Member 284 is pivotally supported at its center by a vertical stud 286 projecting from the center of the stationary cross-shaped member 272. One leg of the cross shaped gripper arm actuating member 284 is pivotally connected at one end to the free end of a piston rod 288 (FIG. 15) attached to a piston (not shown) within an air cylinder 290. Air cylinder 290, at one end, is pivotally supported by a vertical stud 292 projecting from a suitably shaped lug 294 which is integral with the stationary cross-shaped member 272. On top of the piston (not shown) within cylinder 290 is located a suitable compression spring (not shown) which normally keeps the piston in the back portion of cylinder 290. When the piston (not shown) is in this position, the gripper arms 278 are radially spread out or open as illustrated in FIG. 13. The back portion of cylinder 290 is provided with an air nozzle 296 to which is attached a flexible tube 298 which leads to quick exhaust valve 198 with which each bar 138 is provided.

When air is introduced into cylinder 290 the piston moves forward and compresses the spring (not shown) on top of cylinder 290, moving piston rod 288 forward. This forward movement of the piston rod 288 causes a counter-clockwise rotation of cross-shaped gripper arm actuating member 284 which, in turn, through connecting rods 282, affects a radial inward movement of the four gripper arms 278, causing jaws 280 to contact and grip the hamburger roll cluster as illustrated in FIG. 16 where the hamburger roll cluster is indicated with dot and dash lines.

The lifting movement imparted to the gripper units is effected through oscillating arms 144 in the same manner as the single hamburger roll and frankfurter roll grippers described hereinabove. As soon as the air is interrupted to cylinder 290, the compression spring (not shown) within the cylinder forces the piston and rod 288 backward, causing a clockwise rotation of the cross-shaped gripper arm actuating member 284. Actuating member 284 through connecting rods 282 results in a radial outward movement of the gripper arm 278 and jaws 280 and, consequently, in a release of the hamburger roll cluster. Of course, several of these hamburger roll cluster gripping units may be mounted side by side on one transverse bar 138 in a manner similar to the gripper units described heretofore.

All gripper units are swung through an are by means of the oscillatory lifter arms 144 as illustrated in FIG. 6, and the depanned buns are released above and permitted to drop onto the bun conveying and aligning mechanism E shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The bun conveyor consists of a plurality of longitudinally spaced endless chains 300 which carry a plurality of evenly spaced transverse rods 302. Endless chains 300 are supported and driven by suitable sprockets 304, the idler sprockets of which are loosely mounted on the transverse shaft 146, while the driving sprockets are secured to a transverse shaft 306 (FIGS. 3, l8 and 19) supported by suitable bearings mounted on the frame 58 of the machine. The transverse conveyor drive shaft is driven continuously through a suitable sprocket (not shown) which, in turn, is driven through a chain 308 (FIGS. 2 and 3), by another sprocket mounted on shaft 310, which is supported by suitable bearings in framework 58. To shaft 310 is secured another sprocket 312 which through a chain 314 is driven by a suitable sprocket (not shown) on the drive shaft 60.

Slightly above the bun receiving end of the bun conveyor is located the bun aligning device which is employed for the purpose of properly aligning and spacing the buns dropped onto the conveyor to assure that said buns, when reaching the slicing device S, are in the desired position to affect precise slicing of the buns.

The aligning device consists of a transverse cross bar on rod 316 (FIGS. 5 and 6) which at each end is de- 

1. A CARTON DISPENSING AND FORMING MECHANISM COMPRISING A SOURCE OF SUPPLY OF PRE-FOLDED CARTON BLANKS, MEANS FOR EXTRACTING SINGLE BLANKS FROM SAID SOURCE OF SUPPLY, SAID MEANS INCLUDING A SUCTION MEMBER, MEANS MOUNTING SAID SUCTION MEMBER FOR ROTATION IN A LIMITED ARC TO AND FROM SAID SOURCE OF SUPPLY, SAID EXTRACTING MEANS BEING OPERATIVE, UPON ROTATION TO SAID SOURCE OF SUPPLY, TO ENGAGE A SINGLE UPTURNED SIDE PANEL OF SAID CARTON BLANK AND, DURING ROTATION FROM SAID SOURCE OF SUPPLY, WHILE WITHDRAWING SAID BLANK, TO PERMIT IT TO PARTICALLY UNFOLD, DUE TO THE EFFECT OF GRAVITY, AND TO THEREBY PARTIALLY ORIENT OTHER PANELS OF SAID BLANK, FINGERS, MEANS MOVABLY MOUNTING SAID FINGERS ADJACENT THE LIMIT OF ROTATION OF SAID EXTRACTING MEANS AWAY FROM SAID SOURCE OF SUPPLY, AND MEANS FOR MOVING SAID FINGERS DOWNWARDLY AND OUTWARDLY INTO SAID PARTIALLY UNFOLDED BLANK TO COMPLETE SAID CARTON ASSEMBLY. 